Means for guiding boats propelled by electric or other power.



No. 738,190. 'PATENTED SEPT. 8,1903. H. HBALY. MEANS P R GUIDING BOATSPROPELLED BY ELECTRIC OR OTHER POWER.

APPLIUAI'ION FILED FEB. 2. 1903. H0 IODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET L WITNEEEEE a1 v I E F 01 4 fienrav-lfzsqL @W/ W 7 E5 1m); HTTUHNEY .PATENTED SEPT.a, 1903.

H. HEALY. MEANS FOR GUIDING BOATS PROPELLED BY ELECTRIC OR OTHER POWER;

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1903.

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IINVE'NTUFI WITNEEEEE are. 788,190.

.Patented September 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HEALY, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

MEANS FOR GUIDING BOATS PROPELLED BY ELECTRIC 0R OTHEll POWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 738,190, datedSeptember 8, 1903.

Application filed February 2, 1903 To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY HEALY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bulfalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Guiding BoatsPropelled by Electric or other Power; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in means for guiding boatspropelled by electric or other power, and more particularly for theguidance of canal-boats propelled by the trolley system. Under suchsystem it is necessary for the boat to travel as nearly as possible inthe line of the trolley-wire in order to insure a constantoperativecontact of the trolley with the wire.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means for effectingsuch purpose; and to that end it consists in providing the canal orwaterway with continuous guiderails arranged either centrally or uponits op-' posite banks and the boat with arms secured to its side andprovided at their outer ends with wheels which engage with and travelupon the guide-rails.

My invention further consists of certain details of construction, allofwhich will be fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation showing a waterway, atrolley system, and two boats pointing in opposite directions andequipped with my improved device for guiding their travel. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of Fig. 1 on a smaller scale. Fig. 3 is a top plan view ofa modified arrangement. Fig. 4 is a detail view, in side elevation, ofone of the arms, partly in section, and its wheel riding in theguide-rail. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is amodified form of wheel and guide-rail.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that Figs. 1 and 2 illustratemy preferred arrangement of parts.

. SerialNo.141,622. (Nomodel) Along the center of the bed of the canalor waterway I construct a series of concrete abutments 1, in which areembedded the trolley-posts 2, having at their upper ends the cross-arms3, carrying the trolley-wires 4 4. Attached to the posts 2, upon eachside thereof, and resting upon and embedded in the abutments 1 are thetwo guide-rails 5 5, having in their treads the channels 6 6.

'7 '7 are the two boats, with their bows pointing in oppositedirections. Each boat is provided with a trolley-pole 8, with its wheelor trolley 9 in engagement with the wires 4 4.

At two or more points, preferably near each end of the left-hand side ofthe boat, are secured the arms 1O 10, carrying the wheels 11 11, adaptedto engage with and travel within the channels 6 6 of the guide-rails 55. In order that the wheels 11 may have operative engagement with thechannels in the guidethe cleats 13 13, secured to the side of the boat.

Centrally secured to this plate 12 is the angleplate 14, (see Fig. 4,)to which is hinged the inner end of the arm 10, so that it may be swungup out of the way when not in use. It is removably secured in itshorizontal operative position by the four braces 15, which are removablybolted to the plate 12 and arm 10.

A modified form of wheel 16 is shown in Fig. 4, which has a roundedgroove 17, adapted to engage with and travel u pon the rounded tread 18of the guide-rail 19. Still another modification is shown in Fig. 6, inwhich the rail 20 has a square tread 21. Operating with this form ofrail is the wheel 22, with the square groove 23.

Fig. 3 illustrates a modified application of my invention, in which theguide-rails 24 24 are laid along the opposite banks 25 25 of the canalor waterway instead of along 'the center of the waterway, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

In operation the arms 10 10 are first adjusted as to height, so that thewheels 11 11 have holding engagement with the guide-rails 5 6. As theboats progress under power in either direction the arms 10 10 thus holdand constantly maintain them in the proper line of travel, so that thetrolleys are thus enabled to preserve their operative contact with thewires.

It is well understood that any mechanical equivalent to the wheel may besubstituted therefor as an antifriction element without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

I claim I 1. In an electric system of canal propulsion, the combinationwith a waterway and a boat, of a series of trolley-poles located alongthe line of the waterway for supporting a feedwire, guide-rails arrangedupon opposite sides of the trolley-poles beneath the feed-wire, an armsecured tothe side of the boat, means carried by said arm for engagementand travel upon the guide-rail, and electrical comm unication betweenthe boat and the feed-wire.

2. In asystem of canal propulsion, the combination with a waterway and aboat, a guiderail, a plate slidably and adj ustably mounted upon oneside of the boat, said plate having an ofiset projection, an armhingedly connected to said projection, and means carried by the free endof the arm for engagement I and travel upon the guide-rail.

3. In an electric system of canal propulsion, the combination with awaterway and a boat, a series of abutments arranged along the path ofthe waterway, of a trolley-pole mounted upon each abutment, a guide-railarranged upon each side of the trolley-poles and connecting theabutments in series, an arm secured to each trolley-pole and extendingupon either side of the said abutments, said arms supporting feed wires,an arm adj ustably con- HENRY HEALY.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. HOPKINS, GEORGE T. LEWIS.

